LIN Seminar: “Toxic relationships: Production, detection, and resistance to tetrodotoxin in rough-skinned newts” by Heather Eisthen (Michigan State University)
December 5, 2024
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location
SELE 4289
Calendar
Download iCal FilePlease join us at 4pm in SELE 4289 for a LIN Seminar featuring Dr. Heather Eisthen (Michigan State University)
Host: Angie Salles
Abstract: Tetrodotoxin (TTX), the iconic pufferfish toxin, is one of the most potent neurotoxins known. TTX blocks voltage-gated sodium channels, thus preventing the generation of action potentials in neurons and muscle cells. Rough-skinned newts (Taricha granulosa) possess TTX and exhibit enormous variation in toxin concentrations – some individuals possess enough TTX to kill 20 adult humans but others have no detectable TTX at all. Variation in TTX levels and the evolution of extreme concentrations in newts are thought to be driven by evolution of TTX resistance in predatory garter snakes, leading to an arms race between newts and snakes. Research in my lab has revealed that TTX is produced by microbes on the newts’ skin, dramatically complicating our ideas about the causes and mechanisms of toxicity in newts. We are working to unravel the mechanisms of bacterial TTX biosynthesis as well as the adaptations that allow newts to maintain neural functioning in the face of extreme concentrations of neurotoxins.
Date posted
Oct 3, 2024
Date updated
Oct 22, 2024